The world’s largest supercomputer designed to work in the same way as the human brain has been switched on for the first time.
SpiNNaker machine – Spiking Neural Network Architecture is capable of completing more than 200 million million actions per second, with each of its chips having 100 million transistors.
It is designed and built in The University of Manchester in the UK.
In real time, it can model more biological neurons (basic brain cells in the nervous system that communicate by pure electro-chemical energy) than any other machine on the planet.
SpiNNaker Vs Traditional computers - Traditional computers communicate by sending large amounts of information from point A to B via a standard network.
Whereas SpiNNaker mimics the massively parallel communication architecture of the brain, sending billions of small amounts of information simultaneously to thousands of different destinations.
Uses – It will help neuroscientists better understand how our own brain works.
It also has simulated a region of the brain called the Basal Ganglia - an area affected in Parkinson’s disease.
Thus it has massive potential for neurological breakthroughs in science such as pharmaceutical testing.
Its power has recently been used to control a robot the spOmnibot, which uses the SpiNNaker system to interpret real-time visual information and navigate towards certain objects while ignoring others.
GSAT – 29
ISRO is planning to put communication satellite GSAT – 29 from Sriharikota.
GSAT – 29 is a 3,500 kg communication satellite for providing high quality internet services.
It is one of the planned Indian HTS (High Throughput Satellites) quartet. HTS are sent out to provide improved and faster internet connectivity.
It will be launched by GSLV –MKIII – D2, which is a three stage (Solid- Liquid – Cryogenic) heavy lift launch vehicle.
It is designed to carry 4 ton class of satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) or about 10 tons to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), which is about twice the capability of GSLV Mk II.
It will inject the GSAT – 29 satellite into GTO with required inclination to the equator.
The satellite will be placed in its final Geostationary Orbit (GEO) using the onboard propulsion system.
The lifespan of the satellite is 10 years.
It is the second test flight of GSLV –MkIII-D2 carrying the satellite.
Tissue Chips in Space
It is an initiative by NASA to better understand the role of microgravity on human health.
Under this, NASA is planning to send small devices containing human cells in a 3D matrix known as “tissue chips or organs-on-chips” to the International Space Station (ISS).
It is to test how they respond to stress, drugs and genetic changes.
Tissue chips is made of flexible plastic with ports and channels to provide nutrients and oxygen to the cells inside them.
It is expected to behave much like an astronaut’s body, experiencing the same kind of rapid change.
Mission Venus
ISRO has opened up for its “Mission Venus” seeking experiment ideas from space agencies, universities and researchers.
It is planned to be launched in Mid-2023.
It plans to study the planet from an elliptical orbit that is closest to Venus at 500 km and 60,000 km at the farthest end.
It is currently being handled by the Space Science Programme Office.
If the project is approved would be ISRO’s third interplanetary mission after Chandrayaan – 1 and Mars Orbiter Mission.
National Monogenic Diabetes Study Group
It is a national body which has been recently setup to identify cases of monogenic diabetes across the country.
Monogenic diabetes is a group of disorders where mutation of a single gene causes diabetes.
The three commonest forms of it - Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young (MODY), Neonatal Diabetes Mellitus (NDM) and Congenital Hypoglycaemia.
The study group has been formed with Madras Diabetes Research Foundation (MDRF) as a nodal center.
Under this initiative, MDRF would provide guidelines to the collaborators for identifying monogenic diabetes.
Critical groups to be assessed - Children below six months of age and those diagnosed as Type 1 diabetes but have atypical features such as milder forms of diabetes, and strong family history of diabetes going through several generations.
